


The Waking of the Captain

by LeeMorrigan



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Agent Carter frequently mentioned, Buster Crabbe, Everyone is scared of Fury, Everyone knows Captain America, Gen, Greatest Generation, Phil worries, Steve sleeps, natasha is mentioned - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-29
Updated: 2017-11-29
Packaged: 2019-02-08 11:31:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12863586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeeMorrigan/pseuds/LeeMorrigan
Summary: When Steve was found in the ice, everyone thought they were digging up an (inter)national treasure. Imagine their surprise when, as they were defrosting him in a basement at SHIELD, they learned he was ALIVE. Coulson, Fury, and others deal with learning the Star Spangled Man was alive in the ice that had trapped him all these years. Also explains how they came up with the scenario of waking him in that room, with a woman in a 1940s costume and the radio tuned to the old baseball game.





	The Waking of the Captain

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a request on Tumblr from beyourowndensity.  
> Steve sleeps through the whole thing. Right now it's a one-shot, although I have some ideas for the future.  
> No swearing, several original characters, and mostly from Phil's perspective.  
> I do not watch AGENTS OF SHIELD or IRON MAN, so this is all taken from the AVENGERS, CAPTAIN AMERICA, and AGENT CARTER stuff, so I apologize if I contradict anything from AoS or IM.  
> I do not own Captain America (or else he'd be wrapped in bubble wrap to protect him from the cruel world), Phil Coulson, or any other MARVEL character, I'm just borrowing them for a little joyride.  
> Please scroll down and enjoy! Thank you for reading!

Hurrying down the hallway, their lab coats flying behind them like capes, Dr.Lynn Cho and Dr.Agnes Carrow, headed for the lab. If the scuttlebutt was true, the ice had revealed the location of not-only a prototype ship from one of Hitler’s greatest assets, but also the body of CAPTAIN AMERICA! The WWII hero who had disappeared trying to get some sort of weapon far away from where it might hurt civilians or Allied soldiers. Dr.Cho, originally from England, had been well aware of the story of Captain Rogers. Dr.Carrow, originally from Canada, had only learned of it after coming to SHIELD. Agent Coulson was a big fan of the super-soldier. He made sure everyone knew about the WWII hero.

Coming around the final corner before the lab, they saw several techs coming out with dead batteries in their hands and harried expressions. Most of the defrosters they had here were battery-operated, since that made them more portable and made their heat a bit less harsh for anything they were dealing with. Dr.Cho shook her head, if they had gone through this many batteries already, the ice must have been quite well frozen over.

“I can feel the heat from here.”, Dr.Carrow commented.

Dr.Cho nodded, heading into the room ahead of Dr.Carrow. Inside, she spotted a huge block of ice. If you tilted your head and squinted hard enough, you could almost made out something red, something blue, and what looked like a very blurry star. It might have just been the super-soldier’s shield. Dr.Cho had seen many pictures of it in history books, growing up. Agent Carter, the British citizen who worked beside the Captain and his Howling Commandoes before going on to build SHIELD, was a hero back home. So naturally, anything she touched was huge. And Dr.Cho had grown up idolizing the British spy much the way Coulson idolized the super-soldier.

One of the techs looked up, addressing both doctors.

“Dr.Cho, Dr.Carrow, we weren’t told you were coming? Have we done something wrong?”

Dr.Carrow shook her head.

“No, just coming to see if it was true. They found Captain America? The real Captain America?”

The tech, whom Dr.Cho remembered was named Jack-something, nodded emphatically. Jack was new. What a time to come in.

“Oh yeah. This is him. We’ve run a bunch of scans, this is the real deal. The shield’s vibranium, the uniform matches, and…”, he leaned closer to them as if sharing a secret, “we think the body is perfectly preserved by the ice. When we finish defrosting him, he’ll probably look exactly like he did in WWII. Aside from whatever injuries he might have had, that is.”

Dr.Cho couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She knew ice did amazing things, as she had done plenty of experiments using it back in med school and college, however this blew her mind. That he may look exactly as he did in all those propaganda posters and promotional photos of the movies they made with him. He probably would not look like the actors who played him, Buster Crabbe and some others had taken turns at it.

Suddenly, every tech in the room went still, Doctors Carrow and Cho both turned to see who had walked in and caused such a response. It was Coulson. Director Fury’s right-hand man. Cho recovered first.

“Agent Coulson, what brings you down to the labs?”

He cast a look over the room before answering her.

“Director Fury has taken a personal interest in this.”

“Why? Is he a fan too?”

Coulson fixed her with a look that reminded her she wasn’t working for a museum or a hospital, she worked for a super-spy agency that handled things that wouldn’t ever be declassified just because a few decades had gone by. These were the spy-masters who followed in Agent Carter’s footsteps to protect the world from dangers too great for the world to know about.

“Dr.Cho, proceed to your work. Allow me to worry about Director Fury’s interests.”

He turned, beginning to step out before he stopped. Turning back, he fixed Cho and Carrow with a look that they could tell held some hero-worship.

“And please, be careful with the Captain. He deserves only the best of care.”

Cho couldn’t help the small smile that sprung up.

“Yes, sir.”

Agent Coulson walked off, trying to remember that he was supposed to be a master spy, the right hand of Director Fury, and head agent at SHIELD. Not some kid with a box of Captain America collectables and cards, stashed under his bed, and a Buy Warbonds reproduction poster on the inside of his lock door. He needed to maintain his professionalism, at the least.

Heading into his office, a few floors up, Coulson made sure he had his game face on. Fury would see right through it, the loss of one eye having done nothing to decrease the power of his observation. However, he still felt the need to show Fury that he could be cool and collected, despite his hero being defrosted down in the basement.

Hitting the button to connect him to Fury, a small projection of his boss appeared to float above the table next to Phil’s desk. The first time he saw it, Phil had suffered the worst urge to make some sort of STAR WARS joke about Obi-wan being his only hope.

“How goes the defrosting?”

“They are running through batteries to power the heat lamps and blowers, but they are being cautious to not work too fast, and possibly ruin the remains.”

“And the weapon?”

“So far, none of them appear to know we have the Cube. It left burn marks in the ship we found Captain Rogers in, however we have yet to find the Red Skull.”

Fury fixed him with a Look. He was supposed to refer to people by their real names, not what the comic books and soldiers had nicknamed them. Phil had flubbed up.

“Good. Try to make sure none of them figure out any of that. Bad enough that word about the body has spread through the whole agency. We don’t need everyone knowing all the details.”

Phil nodded in agreement.

“Yes.”

“Continue keeping an eye on the defrosting.”

“Thank you, sir. I will do that.”

Fury gave a hint of a smile. Clearly he was enjoying watching Phil trying to be professional and cool.

“And Phil?”

“Yes sir?”

“Try not to get too pushy about being around when they fully defrost him.”

“Yes, sir.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The next evening, Agent Coulson went down to check on the progress of defrosting Captain Rogers. He had stuck his head in once and hour since he woke, having only slept four hours between Fury’s message and his first visit of the day to check on the Captain. He truly did want to be there when they finished. More, he wanted to ensure they treated Captain Rogers with the respect he was due. He had died saving the world.

“How is it coming along?”, he asked as he walked in. A tech, a young man named Josef  Harab who was working on a doctorate in physics and another in advanced math, looked up at him as if coming to attention.

“We’re almost there. Within the hour, we should see his face and the shoulders, sir. We will have his leg freed by midnight or 1AM.”

“And how will you keep his face and upper body preserved while dealing with the lower extremities?”

“We have a cooling blanket from Mr.Stark’s latest line of survival gear, and we’re going to use that to help maintain the cold that has kept him so well preserved. We’re doing everything we can, sir.”

“Good.”

Agent Coulson then headed back out to his office. Meanwhile, Josef and three other techs, Jack, Maria, and Nikko, all continued to work on the famous soldier. Each had an assigned task and all were determined to make sure they did their best. Being fired by SHIELD seemed like it would be way worse than being fired from a university or research hospital.

“We still on track for an hour?”, Josef asked.

“Yes.”, responded Maria. “We’ll have that square jaw revealed in about an hour, give or take a few minutes.”

“Square-jaw, really?”, asked Jack.

Nikko chuckled over at his work station, turning to look at the other three.

“Guys, have any of you seen pictures of the man? Square-jaw, golden hair, body of Adonis himself? I mean, come on, he was supposed to be a perfected human being. Allow the woman a little drool.”

“Thank you.”

He nodded at Maria, before returning to his work.

“Nikko, better be careful, someone will think you have a crush too.”, Jack teased.

“Nope, just appreciating good science when I see it.”

Maria and Josef both chuckled at that while Jack shook his head. They all had been up for over 30 hours trying to free the remains of Captain America. They were beginning to feel a bit punchy, to say the least, and their bosses were all out of the room for a change. Working so long, on an internation treasure, with your bosses and their bosses and their bosses’ bosses all breathing down your neck, was more than a little stressful. Josef was sure he would have an ulcer when this was done.

“How long till Agent Coulson just sets up camp?”, Maria wondered aloud.

Josef snorted as he jotted some notes, but Jack responded after barking a laugh.

“I give it another half hour.”

Nikko chimed in, “Agreed.”

Maria laughed to herself, as she checked the readings on the thaw-rate from the monitors, putting it into the computers for review at a later fate. SHIELD kept any and all information. You never knew what might come in handy later.

“Did any of you guys ever see the movie they made about him, about four years after the war?”

Nikko groaned as Jack and Josef shook their heads.

“Buster Crabbe was the only half-decent one,” Nikko shrugged, “cause at least he bore a vague resemblance and he could pull off the wholesome, patriotic soldier routine. The Tarzan-wannabe they hired afterwards…. Terrible.”

Maria agreed.

“My grandpa used to make us watch those movies all the time. He even had a bootleg copy of one of the movies the real Captain America made, and he would have us watch that with him.”

Josef nudged her with his elbow, “Don’t let Coulson hear that. He’ll show up at your grandpa’s with some goons and take possession of it.”

They all laughed, until one of the alarms started going insane. All four pounced onto the deck with that computer. None believed what it said.

“What?”

“No way!”

“Impossible!”

“Can’t happen!”

Nikko began muttering in Russian as he took off for another computer, Maria dashed off to her own work station, Jack took off to check on the ice block, and Josef went straight to the phone on the wall to call for Coulson. The Agent would want to know. The Agent answered in half a ring.

“Coulson.”

“Sir, you’re not going to believe this!”

“Wha”, he was interrupted.

“HE’S ALIVE!”

“Who?”

“The Captain! He’s alive!”

“I will be right down. Alert Doctors Chow and Carrow, as well as Dr.Selvig.”

“Yes sir!”

Coulson all but ran through the halls to get to the basement level lab, where Captain America lay. It was insane. No matter what Dr.Irskin had pumped into Captain Rogers, he should have been able to survive decades encased in ice. At the very least, the lack of oxygen should have killed him within minutes.

Arriving, he took it all in. The four techs from earlier were all scurrying around, plus six more, Dr.Carrow, Dr.Cho, three scientists who had studied the effects of ice, and one SHIELD-issue paramedic. Coulson wished he was there just to greet the Captain, however he knew he needed to be Fury’s eyes and ears in this situation. Captain Rogers may have seen a lot in his final days, regarding the cube, and so he might be able to tell them a lot about it.

The EMT and Dr.Carrow instantly moved to start working on Captain Rogers, wanting to get him real medical attention as soon as possible. Dr.Cho stood by, unable to squeeze in at present, yet ready to help once he was freed from the ice and could be placed on a gurney to take upstairs. Coulson stood, eyes glued to the rapidly-thawing superhero. He had been the world’s first true superhero. Coulson had to make sure this man was taken care of, no matter what the effects of the ice.

Once they had Captain Rogers to where they could use chistles to carefully break him free around his hips and legs, leaving his shield behind in favor of getting him out quickly, the Captain was transferred to a gurney. It took three techs, the EMT, and two doctors to move him, he was so heavy between his actual body weight and the sodden uniform. Then they carried him off at breakneck speeds, to be looked after in the real hospital upstairs.

Coulson moved to Nikko and Josef, giving them a clear command.

“Continue working on the shield, and gentlemen,” they both looked at him expectantly, “don’t scratch the paint.”

Both nodded, then Coulson took off down the hall to follow the gurney holding his idol. He wanted to be absolutely certain that the Captain was properly looked after. It took only a few minutes to be standing outside the room Captain Rogers was being worked on within, a Plexiglas window offering security personnel the ease of being able to see what goes on within the surgical theatre when the required medical staff could not afford to let anyone else in aside from them and the patient.

~*~*~*~*~

Phil waited, anxiously, pacing about in the observational suite. He was waiting for some response or an announcement from within. There was not any surgery required, only lots of equipment to tend thawing out the soldier, monitoring his heart rate and other vitals, a dialysis machine helping warm his blood slowly enough to not send him into some sort of shock, and a crowd of trained medical staff trying to take care of him. Phil knew his idol was in good hands. The best. SHIELD only hired the best.

After what seemed like days, the EMT was sent into the observational suite to give Phil the update. He looked as tired as Phil would imagine any post-rescue EMT might look when the adrenaline was beginning to wear off. The EMT, Anthony Rossini, greeted Phil with a tired smile. He was one of the few at SHIELD who wasn’t intimated by Phil or Fury.

“He’s gonna make it, Agent Coulson. It’ll be a few days before we dare do enough to allow him to fully wake. Right now, if we let him wake up, he’d be in so much pain and have so much tingling sensation going on in his distal regions, he would probably go straight into shock. Super soldier or not, there’s only so much pain a body can take, especially when it is already under stress.”

“Thank you. What are the chances he’ll be able to fully-function, mentally and physically, when he wakes? Have they accessed that yet?”

Anthony nodded.

“They’ve done some scans and stuff, they think his brain is fine. No sign of injury, no sign of any serious trauma before or during his deep-freeze. That being said, the effect of being frozen, of being in the ice for all these years, and being thawed out this way- as we didn’t know for all the hours before those alarms went off that he was still alive… he could still be… There could be some damage from that. Memory loss, cognitive issues, you name it. We’ll just have to wait and see. Physically, Chow and Carrow think he’ll be fine, so does the other doc. They say he’s already healing up from some injuries he froze with. His lip was busted when we brought him down here, it is all healed up now with barely a hint of it having been there.”

Phil nodded, the EMT continued.

“Sir, don’t get me wrong, I’m glad he’s alive and I’m excited to see what we can learn about saving people by freezing them or by copying what Dr.Irskin did but…”

“Yes, Rossini?”

“Can you imagine if someone from the Greatest Generation, went to sleep in the middle of World War Two, then Rip Van Winkle style just woke up now? We think culture shock from international travel is bad, he’s older than my grandma and she still asks things like when women started being able to wear pants to work and when they started letting the different races intermarry. Can you imagine how scary this world’s gonna be to him? I mean, we’ve got cell phones and blutooth in our cars, he grew up when milk was delivered daily in glass bottles and cigarettes were a national pastime.”

Phil had to admit, the man had a very good point. This would take some consideration.

“How long do you think before they will wake him?”

“Possibly in three days, maybe four, depending on how his heart and all handles it.”

Phil nodded.

“Thank you, Anthony. Get some rest.”

“You too, sir.”

With that, the younger EMT headed out and Phil watched the team working on Captain Rogers. He was already forming a plan. Perhaps if they had one of their better infiltrators- someone Nat had trained, dress in something more like what Agent Carter would have worn when she the War was going on, put him in a plane room with a more WWII era bed, perhaps a radio they could make play 1940s music, and they could slowly bring him into the 21st century.

Phil watched. He was so terribly excited to hear that Captain Rogers had survived and he selfishly looked forward to meeting the man. However, hearing Anthony’s concerns, Phil now found himself troubled over the waking of the Captain. Bringing him into the 21st century, with all the chaos and bright, shiny things, so much noise, so much technology taken for granted, so many things to explain to him that were far from the simple, black and white world of the 1940s. Patriotism was different, music was different, food was different, the sources for information were different, war was different, even the social rules were different. The whole world was likely to appear as a foreign planet to the super soldier. Phil was determined, they would need to take it easy with the soldier, and gently introduce him into this crazy world they all lived in.


End file.
